Wire-bending machine



Oct. 9, 1923. 470,106 V v T. C. RUSSELL ET AL WIRE BENDING MACHINE Filed May 10, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Invanifim: I Thomas C. Tia/5501i (j Otto fl. Langoa z m 55: J3

' 3 (MM W T. C. RUSSELL ET AL Get. 9 1923.

WIRE BENDING MACHINE Filed, May 10 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 b mm r" um. Ian. mm m R WIN K I. m w n mm T. C. RUSSELL ET AL WIRE BENDING MACHINE Filed May 10. 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Thomas C. Fwasabb J7ZZJC Otto fl. Langos,

of the Patented Oct. 9, 1923.

UNH'EO EMAILS rarest crrica.

THOMAS C. RUSSELL AND OTTO A. LANG-S, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TO RUS- SELL ELECTEIC COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

WIRE-BENDING MACHINE.

Application filed May 10,

T 0 all 207107714? may 0071 06m:

Be it known that we, THOMAS C. RUSSELL and Or'ro A. Limeos, both citizens of the United States, and residents of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ire-Bending Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to an improved machine for bending a continuous resistance wire in zigzag fashion to form an electrical resistance ribbon or element which can be conveniently and efficiently used in electric heat devices such as flat irons, toasters, waffie irons, cooking utensils, hot plates, stoves, etc.

Among the important objects of the invention are; to provide an improved machine. which will receive wire from a reel,

rapidly bend it back and forth and fold it together, and deliver it in the form of a ribbon which can be readily wound into stock rolls; to provide means for adjusting the machine for different gauges of wire; to provide adjusting means for determining the length of the folded wire sections and consequently the width of the delivered ribbon; to provide construction and arrangement which will not bruise or weaken the wire and in general to produce an improved and more efficient machine of the class referred to.

On the accompanying drawings we show a machine in which the various features of our invention are incorporated. On the drawing Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the machine,

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on plane 3-3, Fig. 2

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view on plane -14, Fig. 3,

F 5 is a side elevational View of one of the cams,

Fig. 6 is an enlarged side elevational View wire folding blades, and

Fig. T is an enlarged sectional viewof the blades and wire guide plates.

The supporting framework for the machine comprises a table 10 mounted on legs 11. At the right end of the table are the 1922) Serial No. 559,716.

two bearing frames 12 and 13 which journal the main shaft 14 driven by a pulley 15 from some suitable source. Between the bearing structures the shaft has secured thereto the gear pinion 16 which meshes withv the gear wheel 17 mounted on the cam shaft 18 which is journaled in the bearing structures 19 and 20, the cam shaft extending along the back of the table. On the cam I on a pin 26 secured to and extending downwardly from the table 10 near its front edge as clearly shown in Fig. 3. Receiving the pin and secured to the arm is a gear pinion 27. This pinion meshes with the gear 28 which is journaled on the stub shaft or pin 29 extending downwardly from the table 10 behind the pin 26. Guide blocks 30 and31 extending downwardly from the table provide a guide groove 32 for a gear rack 33,

plates 34 and 35 being detachably secured to the blocks and overlapping the guide groove to hold the gear rack therein. The gear rack has teeth 36 which mesh with the teeth of the gear 28, and as the gear rack reciprocates longitudinally the pinion 27 and consequently the arm 25 will be swung laterally.

The cams 21 and 24 control the reciprocation of the gear rack. Rising from the table 10 in front of the cams are the bearing structures 37 and 38 in which are journaled the shafts 39 and 40 to the upper ends of which are secured the cam levers 41 and 42 respectively which at their ends ournal the cam rollers 43 and 44 respectively. The

cams 21 and 24 have the lateral semi-cylindrical cam ridges 45 and 46 which extend partway around the cams and are engaged respectively by the cam rollers 43 and 44 already referred to. Below the table the shafts 39 and '40 have theheads 47 and 48 I respectively from which extend the arms 4L9 and respectively which at their outer ends have the slots 51 and 52 for receiving the pins 53 and 54; at the ends of the gear rack 38. The cam ridges 15 and 6 are displaced relatively 180 degrees and the entire arrangement is such that as the cam shaft revolves the swing of the cam levers is communicated to the gear rack which reciprocates longitudinally to oscillate the gear 28 and the pinion 27 and to swing the arm 25 laterally. In Fig. 1 the arm 25 is shown swung to the right and'in Fig. 4 it is shown at intermediate position.

Extending transversely a distance on the table from the front end thereof is the platform 55 which has the groove 56 in which is seated the lower guide plate 57, the plate being secured by screws 58. Bridging over the plate 57 and secured on the platform 55 by means of bolts 59 and 60 is the block 61. Between the block and the lower plate 57 is the upper guide plate 62 which has the pin 6-3 extending upwardly through the passage way 64 in the block, the upper end of the. pin being threaded and received by the nut 65. By means of the nut the height of the passageway X between the plates is adjusted for, the wire ribbon B after bending of the wire being advanced through this passageway. In order that the upper plate may exert yielding pressure and consequently frictional resistance against travel of the wire ribbon through the passageway, compression springs 66 are applied in the pockets 67 against the top of the upper plate, set screws 68 threading into the upper ends of the pockets to compress the springs. properly adjusting the set screws and the nut the desired pressure against the wire ribbon and resistance to its travel can be obtained. To make the upper plate more yielding the passageway 64L in the block 61 is of larger diameter than the pin 63. The upper plate can thus cant more or less as the wire ribbon travels through the passageway so that binding will be prevented.

On the outer end of arm 25 are the opposed brake shoes 70 and 71 whose inner surfaces are curved and between which passes the wire lV which comes from a reel (not shown} and which is to be bent back and forth in zigzag fashion to form the resistance ribbon It in a manner to be described later. The brake shoes are pivoted at their outer ends on pins 72 and 73. and adia ent the inner ends of the shoes the lugs 74: and, 75 rise from the arm 25 and through these lugs screws 76 and. 77 thread laterally and bear against compression springs 78 and 79 within the pockets 80 and 81 formed the shoes. By adjusting the screws the brake shoes are yieldingly pressed toward each other and the wire is more or less firmly clamped and its tension adjusted. As the arm swings back and forth the wire is carried back and forth across the front of the passageway X between the lower and upper plates 57 and 62, and in front of this passageway suitable blades, to be presently described, are arranged at the proper time and interposed in the path of the wire to determine the bending thereof :and feed of the bent wire or ribbon into the passageway. To feed the wire between the brake shoes in the proper plane a guide plate 82 is secured to the arm 25 in front of the shoes on lugs 83 and 84 and this plate has the guide slot 85 through which the wire extends from the reel.

The blades 86 and 86 which control the bending of the wire and the feed of the bent wire into the passageway X are best shown in Figs. 4., 6 and 7. As the blades and their supporting mechanisms and operating trains are exactly alike we shall describe the construction and operation in connection with blade 86 at the left side of the machine (Fig. 1) and apply similar primed reference characters to the supporting and operating mechanisms of blade 86 on the right side of the machine. The blade 86 is at the outer end of a bar 87 clamped in the slot 88 of the arm 89, a screw 90 passing through the front of the arm and the bar and a set screw 91 abutting against the bar to firmly hold it in the slot. At its outer end the arm is secured to a vertical shaft 92 by means of a set screw 93, the shaft being journaled at its lower end in the bearing lug 94: formed on the table 10. and at its upper end being journaled in the bearing bracket or pedestal 95 extending upwardly from the table. The shaft is ver tically reciprocable in its bearings and has the collar 96 secured thereto provided with the peripheral groove 97 in which engage the pins 98 extending from the fork ends 99 of the lever 100. This lever is fulcrumed intermediate its ends on the screw 101 which extends laterally from the bearing structure 38. At its rear end the lever has the cam roller 102 which engages in the cam groove 103 in the inner side of the cam 24. The cam groove is circular throughout the greater part of its extent and has the short section H 103 of increased radius. hen. the cam roller is in the circular part of the cam groove the front end of lever 100 is down to hold the arm 89 i n its lower position with its blade 86 against the top of the lower plate 57 and in front of the passageway 00. as shown in Fig. 7. When the cam roller is in .the section of increased radius the arm will be raised to hold its blade up above the plate as shown in Figs. 3 and 6.

Besides being raised and lowered the blades are also moved forwardly and rearwardly, such movement being controlled by swing of the arms 89 and 89 which support the respective blades. Thecam 23 has a cam groove in its side which has. the main section 104, the section 104 of'slightlyv reduced radius, and the section 104 whose radius is further reduced. In this "cam groove engages the roller 105at the upper end of the lever 106 which is fulcrumed at its lower end on the lug 107 extending from the block 30 which forms one of the supports for the gear rack 33. Intermediate the ends of the lever the link 108 is pivoted and extends forwardly, its front end being pivoted to the inner member 109 of a turnbuckle structure by means ofpin 110. The front member 111 of the turnbuckle structure is pivoted to the arm 89 by means of pin 112 intermediate the ends of the arm. The threaded sleeve 113 receives the threaded ends of the turnbuckle members. When the cam roller is in the inner" groove section 104 of the cam groove the bar 89 will be swung forwardly. lVhen the roller engages with the intermediate section 104 the bar will be swung rearwar'dly but not quite its entire distance, and when the roller engages in the outer section 104 the bar will be swung in its full distance. The arrange ment of the cam grooves 103 and 104 is such that, starting with the upper inner position of the blade 86 as shown Fig. 3, the blade is first shifted outwardly, then downwardly against the plate 57, then inwardly almost its entire distance, and then to full inner position against the front end of the plate 62. From this position the blade is raised and the cycle is repeated. The primed characters 87 to 113' indicate the corresponding parts associated with the blade 86, the groove 103 which controls the raising of the arm 89 being in the inner side of the cam 21, and the grooves 104, 104 104" for controlling the forward and rearward movement of the blade 86' being in the cam 22. The relative displacement of the grooves of cams 21 and 22 is the same as the displacement of the grooves in earns 24 and 23, but the displacement between the cam grooves in c ams 21 and 22 relative to those in cams 24 and 23 is 180 degrees. In other words the cycles of operation of the blades 86 and 86 are displaced by 180 degrees.

The blade 86 atits outer lower corner has the notch 114 which leaves theabutment shoulder 115 around which the wire is bent. The blade 86 has a similar notch114 and shoulder 115. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the arm 25 is swung to the right, the wire li having been bent around the shoulder 115 of blade 86. The blade 86 was down and behind the blade86f during such bendinig,but after the bending the blade 86 is raised to position shown in Figs. 1 and 6 and is then shifted forwardly and then downwardly, and then inwardly sufficient distance to be in front of the blade 86 (Fig. 7) and to present its shoulder 115 to the wire preparatory to the next bending operation. When the arm is then swung to the left the wire is bent around the shoulder115. After bendingof the wire around the blade 86 the blade 86 is raised by virtue of engagement of the cam roller 10 2" in the groove section 103. While the blade 86 is behind the blade 86 the cam roller 105 isv in the cam groove section'l04 but as soon as the blade 86' is raised the cam roller engages with the groove section 104 and the blade 86 will be shifted inwardly its entire distance to take the place of the blade 86 and to be infront of the plate 62. During such inward movement of the bladethe wire behind it will be shifted into the passageway The lower edges of the blades are beveled as clearly shown in Fig. 7 so that the wire sections are accommodated between the blades and urged downwardly towards the plate 57. To assist in accurately guiding the bent sections of the wire into the passageway 00 pins 116 extend forwardly from the plate 62 above the passageway 20, and to receive the pins the blade 86 has the notches 11 iand the blade 86 has the notches 117. VVhenth'e arm 25 is swuno the wire passes underneath the pins and is held down while the next blade comes down in front of the wire. When the blade is then shifted rearwardly the wire section is shifted and guided into the passageway 00. hen the wire used is springy the sections between bends would tend. to

spring back a distance or separate after leaving the blades, but owing to the restriction of resistance to the travel of the bent wire through the passageway pressure will be exerted against. the sections and additional bending will result at the bends to permanently bring the sections into parallelism or to the desired angle.

As already explained the upper guide plate 62 above the passageway m is flexibly and yieldably supported from the block 61. In order to keep this plate in intimate association with the bending blades so as to insure feed of the bent sections into the passageway, we provide a spring 118 which bearsv at its center against the inner end of the plate and is adjustably supported at its ends on the block 61 by screws 119 as clearly shown in Fig. 4. As shown in Fig. 3 the blade 86 has just been raised from between the blade 86 and thefront edge of theplate 62. After such withdrawal of the blade 86 the spring 118 will shift the plate 62 for many against the blade 86, and. then when the blade 86 is shifted its full distance rearwardly the plate 62 will be pushed bac'kagainst the force'of the spring 118 to the position shown in Fig. 7. As soon-as a a blade is raised from in front of" the plate the plate is pushed out by the spring 118 to carry it over the wire which has been released by the rising blade. There is therefore no chance for escape of the wire sections and they are accurately guided and received in the passageway :11 to be finally bent, the ribbon It formed therebydischarging from the rear end of the passageway w from where it can be wound up on suitable reels. The machine operates entirely automatically, wire being fed thereto from a reel and bent in zigzag fashion, to be discharged from the machine in the form of a ribbon.

Different widths of ribbon can be made by changing the blades, the width of the ribbon depending upon the distance between the abutment shoulders 115 and 115 on the blades. By means of the nut adjustment can also be madefor different gauges of wire, adjustment of the nut determining the height of the passageway IE to correspond to the gauge of the wire desired.

We do not desire to be limited to the exact construction, arrangement and operation shown and described as changes and modifications are possible which will still come within the scope of the appended claims.

'We claim as follows:

1. In a wire bending machine, the combination of a pair of blades adapted to receive and hold the wire to be bent, an arm arranged to swing in front of. said blades, wire guiding means on said arm, said arm when swung carrying the wire to either side of said blades and said blades acting as abutments for causing bending of the wire, means for alternately raising said blades and bringing one in front of the other, and means for shifting said blades rearwardly to discharge the bentwire.

2. In a wire bending machine, the combination of upper and lower walls forming a passageway, blades set on edge in front of said passageway, an arm and means for oscillating it in front of said passageway, wire guiding means on said arm, said blades forming abutments for the wire when the arm is oscillated whereby the wire is bent in zigzag fashion, means for successively raising one blade and placing it in front of another blade, means for shifting said blades rearwardly to cause feeding of the bent wire into and through said passageway, and means for causing said upper passageway wall to exert yieldable pressure on the bent wire passing through said passageway.

3. In a machine of the class described, the combination of upper and lower walls forming a passageway, blades located one in front of another in advance of said passageway, an arm pivoted at its inner end, means for swinging said arm back and forth in front of said blades, wire guiding means on said arm through which the wire to bebent extends to be received and held by said blades, said arm carrying the wire in zizag fashion around said'blad'e's, means for shifting said blades to feed the bent way to cause it to engage the wire passing therethrough with pressure. I

4. In a bending machine of the class described, the combination of horizontally extending blades adapted to receive and hold wire to be bent, an arm, means forv operating said arm at intervals to carry wire back and forth inv front of said blades, and means for successively vertically shifting and interposing said blades in the path of said wire whereby the wire will be bent to zigzag form.

5. In a wire bending machine, the combination of'a pair of blades adapted to receive and hold the wire to be bent, an arm arranged to swing in front of said blades, wire guiding means on said arm, said arm when swung carrying the wire to either side of said blades and said blades acting as abutments for causing bending of the wire to zigzag form, means for raising onev of said blades out of the path of the other blade and for causing said other blade to be shifted to shift the formed wire rearwardly, anda passageway for receiving the formed wire.

6. In a wire bending machine, the combination of a pair of blades, an arm arranged to swing in front of said blades, wire guiding means on said arm, means for successively interposing said blades one in front of the other in the path of the wire carried by said arm whereby said wire will be bent to zigzag form,a passageway behind said blades for receiving the bent wire, and means for raising the inner blade out of the path of the frontblade after a bending operation and for then causing movement of the front blade towards said passageway whereby the formed wire will be carried by said front blade into said passageway.

7. In a wire bending machine, the combination of a plate, a wire carrying arm arranged to swing in front of said plate to carry the wire back and forth across said plate, blades adapted to be successively brought against said plate in the path of said wire-to cause the wire to be bent to zigzag form, a yieldable wall over said plate forming a passageway therewith for receiving the bent wire, said wall being shifted over the bent wire sections upon release thereof by said blades.

8. In a wire bending machine, the combination of a plate, a wire carrying arm arranged to swingto carry wire back and forth across said plate, a pair of blades adapted to be positioned successively on said plate in the path of said wire whereby said wire will be bent to zigzag form, a Vertically and transversely yieldable wall above 5 said plate forming a passageway therewith for receiving the bent wire, and means yieldably forcing said wall toward said blades whereby said wall will shift over and receive the bent wire sections after release thereof by said blades. 10 In witness whereof, we hereunto subscribe our names this 5th day of May, A. D., 1922.

THOMAS C. RUSSELL.

OTTO A. LANGOS. 

